


Still Here

by jordieey



Series: Trust Takes Time [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, captain america: civil war - Fandom
Genre: Distrust, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt Tony, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Part Two, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-20 19:26:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14267931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordieey/pseuds/jordieey
Summary: Natasha's still there when Tony wakes up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The A.N. at the end is rather long, but I would like to ask to boy to read it. Especially if you're interested in where this story is going, and want to add your opinion.

Natasha was still there when he woke up.

Tony could admit he was honestly surprised--shocked, even. With the way the so called “Civil War” ended--and the fact that Nastasha was, technically, on the run--he had fully expected her to be gone in the morning. 

So yeah, when he became aware of the arm still clamped around his middle--the body still essentially wrapped around him, Tony was surprised. 

For a moment, Tony was still. Last night was the most peaceful sleep he had had in...years, really. And it was because of the assassin holding him as if she were his shield. 

Slowly, Tony turned in Natasha’s embrace, briefly meeting her eyes. Her gaze, which had previously been locked at some point over his shoulder, met Tony’s. 

As he continued to move, Natasha shifted back enough to allow Tony to face her. They locked eyes, saying nothing. Natasha’s hand rested on his hip. 

“You’re still here,” Tony said finally. 

“Did you want me to leave?” Natasha asked.

Tony didn’t know how to respond to that. So he didn’t. Sitting up, Tony allowed his legs to dangle off the side of the bed. He turned to look at her over his shoulder. Friday had opened the curtains, allowing the sunlight in. As it shined through Natasha’s hair, she almost looked like an angel. 

He turned so that he was facing her, trying to subtly avoid her eyes. 

“I’m gonna go take a shower.” He hesitated a moment before adding, “Meet me in the kitchen in fifteen?” 

Natasha nodded once, her face impassive. Tony lingered another moment as he briefly considered asking her to join him. Showering with Natasha sounded nice--in a completely non-sexual way. He just didn’t know if he trusted her enough to be in a close, confined space. 

Besides, he didn’t want her to take it the wrong way. 

He gathered some clothes from his closet and left the room. 

***  
As promised, Natasha was waiting for him in the kitchen. She had put her contacts in again, replacing green eyes with blue. Like last night, Natasha had opted to borrow some more of Tony’s clothes. She wore Doctor Who t-shirt--displaying the TARDIS--one corner tied into a knot. The result was that Natasha’s midriff was bare, prominently displaying the scar on her stomach. Tony’s eyes were immediately drawn to that scar. He wondered how she had gotten it.

Natasha had stood up upon Tony’s entrance, looking almost like a soldier at attention. Staring at her for a moment, Tony made a snap decision.

“Sit down, Agent Romanoff,” he ordered, walking over to the fridge. “I’m going to make you breakfast.” 

He could practically hear her hesitation. And then, with the soft scrape of her chair, she sat back down. 

Nearly ten minutes of silence passed between them. It wasn’t until Tony had poured some pancake batter onto a heated pan that Natasha spoke. 

“You bake?” 

Tony briefly wondered how she knew that--besides the obvious--before remembering the pastries he’d made the other day. He had been meaning to send them to a bake sale--some charity thing for cancer. Natasha must have found them.

“Yeah,” Tony replied, watching bubbles form on the uncooked pancake. “It’s a hobby I picked up a few months ago.” He flipped the pancake. “It’s relaxing.” He hesitated, before adding, “My therapist suggested it.” 

Natasha’s surprise was palpable, even though he couldn’t see her. “You’re seeing a therapist,” she stated, unnecessarily. “That’s...good.” 

Tony hummed, choosing not to comment on just how insincere Natasha had sounded just then. 

More silence. Tony flipped the pancake. Natasha’s eyes never left him. 

“Friday,” Tony called out at one point. “Clear my schedule for the day. I won’t be going anywhere.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Friday said, sounding unhappy. “Although, if you don’t mind me saying, I do not believe Ms. Potts will be pleased with you.” 

“Ms. Potts understands the need for a break sometimes,” Tony rebuked. “Be a dear, Friday, and answer for me when she calls?” 

“Of course, boss.”

“That’s my girl,” Tony said fondly. 

Tony continued to make the pancakes in relative silence, feeling Natasha’s eyes on him the entire time. When he had placed them in oven to keep them warm, Tony turned face her.

“You know where they are,” he said.

“Yes.” Natasha looked wary, yet again. 

“You’re not going to tell me,” Tony concluded. 

“No,” Natasha said, meeting his eyes with determination.

Tony crossed his arms, eyeing her for another minute, before simply walking over to the fridge and pulling out a pack of bacon.

“You do realize that, as long as you’re here, I can turn you in,” he informed her nonchalantly. He ripped the package open, and placed four strips on the pan.

“I am well aware of the possible outcomes,” Natasha said calmly. The unspoken “but I came anyway” hung thick in the air. Tony stared at the bacon.

“Why won’t you tell me?” he asked, perhaps ten minutes later, as he placed the last of the bacon on a plate. He put those in the oven, and then started to make whipped cream.

“Steve--Rogers--is...incredibly self-righteous. Dangerously so,” Natasha began. “If he was brought in, Rogers would be convinced that he was being wronged; that he had every right to do what he did. He needs to come to terms with the damage he and his team caused on his own time. They all do. Otherwise they will never stop fighting.”

That made sense, Tony supposed. However, he was ninety-nine percent certain that wasn’t the only reason. Despite everything, Natasha was still protecting Steve fucking Rogers. A part of her was still loyal to Mr. “sometimes my teammates don’t tell me things.” And the realization was like another double-edged betrayal.

Speaking of betrayal…

Tony thought long and hard about his next question. He finished making the whipped cream. He placed two pancakes on a plate, and scooped some cream in top. He cut up some strawberries; added some bacon and syrup to the plate. And then, as he was placing the fully loaded plate in front of her, Tony allowed himself to meet Natasha’s eyes.

“You knew, didn’t you? About my parents’ murder.”

Natasha met his gaze. She looked as though she wanted to appear calm, but couldn’t hide how wary she was.

“Yes.”

Tony hunched over, gripping the edge of the counter tightly. Friday called out worriedly.

“Why…” he choked out. “Why didn’t you…”

“I had many reasons,” Natasha said softly, her voice filled with sorrow. “Rogers asked me not to.” Tony gripped the counter more tightly. “I did not wish to cause you more pain. And…” Natasha’s breath seemed to hitch, and she directed her eyes down, reaching out to grip Tony’s old arc reactor. “I didn’t want to look in your eyes and see your hatred directed at me.” She looked up again, her eyes filled with a thousand apologies. 

Tony bowed his head, suddenly finding himself unable to look at her. His breathing became faster.

He wanted to hit Natasha; he wanted to pull her into his arms. He wanted to throw her across the room; he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to hate her; he wanted to see if he could love her.

Tony wanted to do a lot of things.

In the end, he simply turned around, and left the kitchen. 

***  
One hour later.

Tony had been in his lab, tinkering away, for perhaps an hour when Friday informed him that Natasha was requesting entrance. He told Friday to let her in, and set down his blow torch when she appeared, a plate of breakfast food in her hands.

“It was too good to go to waste,” she told him quietly.

Tony said nothing for a moment, eyeing her shrewdly. And then he said, “You didn’t leave.”

Natasha’s face hardened. “Do you want me to?”

Once again, Tony chose not to answer. He flipped down his protective faceplate and continued working. Natasha didn’t go anywhere.

Ten minutes passed. Tony turned off the blow torch, not at all startled to find Natasha right next to him when he did so. She must have been trained as a ninja on top of her spy skills. Seriously.

“Let me help,” Natasha requested quietly, resting a cautious hand on his shoulder. Tony stared at that hand, half expecting it to wrap around his neck at any moment. He met her eyes. They pleaded with him to allow her this; to allow her to at least try to make amends.

“Fine.”

They worked for hours, talking of nothing but their work. Natasha listened to every one of Tony’s instructions without complaint. At one point, she went back upstairs briefly, taking the uneaten breakfast food with her. She returned with a coffee smoothie--for which she’d found the recipe online.

He drank it, only because of the coffee component. It was good.

Dammit, that woman knew how to manipulate him.

When Tony finally talked to her again, it was after six o’clock in the evening. The sun was probably setting. He stared intently at the piece of twisted metal in his hands. 

“I don’t forgive you,” he told her softly, lifting his head. 

Natasha, who had been hammering a piece of metal, straightened. She gazed at him silently.

“I didn’t expect you to,” she said. “In fact, I would be concerned of you did.”

Those words hit Tony harder than they probably should have. Her easy acceptance was just so… Even Steve--in that goddamn letter--had seemed to actually /expect/ Tony to just forgive him one day. Natasha didn’t, though. She understood. Perhaps more than anyone else did.

Tony approached her slowly, removing his work gloves as he did so. Natasha tensed, putting down her hammer. She made no move to flee.

When Tony was standing in front her, he reached up, gently tracing her cheekbone with his finger. It was smooth. Like satin. He met her eyes, taking in the desperation she was so poorly hiding.

He wanted to kiss her, but knew he wasn’t ready for that.  
Instead, he said, “I don’t want you to leave.”

Natasha leaned into his hand, ever so slightly. 

“Then I’ll stay.”


	2. You Asked, I Listened.

Due to the fact that the majority seems to be against the Tony/Natasha/Loki relationship, I will not be writing it. Loki will, however, be present in the next story, and will be a good friend of Tony and Natasha. If you want to see him with a love interest, let me know. 

I’m thinking that there will a sort of New Avengers team present in the next story. My knowledge of the Marvel comics is limited to MCU, some Black Widow comics, one CA comic, the Infinity comic, and the Superior Spider-Man. As a result, not everything will canon. Apologies. If there are certain characters you want to see present in this potential New Avengers, again, let me know. 

Really, just tell me what you want to see in the next story, and I’ll see if I can work it in. Keep in mind it is set right before Avengers: Infinity War, and will be largely based on the following request:

“Could you do something set a few years down the line where Tony is like, Earth's General and he and Nat have complete trust and faith in each other as they prepare for War? I'd also like it if their best friend is Loki and they all respect and trust each other and are all on the same level. I'd like to see Loki, Nat and Tony's alternate perspectives as they prepare for the war, deal with their old friends/enemies, talk to various politicians, gather allies and begin the fight. I'd really like it if they were confident i themselves and each other at that point.”

Happy reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Kay, so I got this request: "Could you do something set a few years down the line where Tony is like, Earth's General and he and Nat have complete trust and faith in each other as they prepare for War? I'd also like it if their best friend is Loki and they all respect and trust each other and are all on the same level. I'd like to see Loki, Nat and Tony's alternate perspectives as they prepare for the war, deal with their old friends/enemies, talk to various politicians, gather allies and begin the fight. I'd really like it if they were confident i themselves and each other at that point."
> 
> My plan is to write this in parts--chapters--so that readers don't have to wait as long. I'm also thinking of doing a Loki/Natasha/Tony polyamorous type of relationship. If I do, there will definitely be plenty of IronWidow, but both Tony and Natasha will share moments with Loki, as well.
> 
> Note: The fic will probably come across as Team Iron Man. Just a heads up. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
